Paint brushes and the like



Feb. 1, 1966 c. H. MALPAS 3,231,920

PAINT BRUSHES AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 25, 1962 II III II llll llll II II II n in n \WIIIIM CHA also HENR Y MA L PA .5 /N VE N TOR.

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent M 3,231,920 PAINT BRUSHES AND THE LIKE Charles Henry Malpas, Newton, Geelong, Victoria, Australia, assignor to American Flange & Manufacturing Co. Inc., New York, N.Y., a company of Delaware Filed Oct. 25, 1962, Ser. No. 232,980 Claims priority, application Australia, Apr. 11, 1962, 16,448/ 62 2 Claims. (Cl. 15-193) This invention relates to improvements in paint brushes and the like (hereinafter referred to as paint brushes) and it refers particularly to a paint brush having improved means for fastening the bristles of the brush to the handle.

In the manufacture of paint brushes it has been the practice for many years for the bristles to have their inner ends held in what is commonly termed a knot, and for the bristles to be mounted in a sheet metal ferrule which is fastened to a wooden handle by nails, pins or equivalent fastenings. The inner ends of the bristles, in many cases, are set in rubber and the ferrule is fastened to the knot or rubber-mounted inner ends of the bristles by a row of small nails, pins or the like through the outer end portion of the ferrule. That is to say, there are generally two rows of nails or like fastenings: one at the inner or rear end of the ferrule to fasten it to the handle, and a second at the outer, or front, end of the ferrule to secure the bristles in the ferrule.

'In recent years, however, there have been several developments in the manufacture of paint brushes. One of the first of these is shown in the US. Patent No. 2,508,931

of Simms, which discloses a handle of somewhat conventional design having a hollow element fastened to it, a second hollow element in continuation of the first hollow element and fastened thereto by a ferrule, and a knot of bristles fastened to the ferrule and to the second hollow element by a cement. In this construction the second hollow element has a transverse plate at its outer end and said plate is formed with a series of openings and, outwardly of the openings, somewhat L-shaped lugs with the outer ends thereof substantially parallel to the transverse plate.

This construction is somewhat complex in that there are four parts other than the bristles and the cement, and such parts have to be assembled, the first hollow member has to be secured to the handle.

' In his US. Patent No. 2,562,716 Harvey discloses a construction in which the bristles are bonded to a ferrule and a metal channel is fastened to the end of a handle, and then the channel is embedded in the cement holding the bristles and the ferrule is nailed to the handle. construction is also relatively complex in that the channel requires to be nailed to the handle, and the ferrule also requires to be nailed to the handle.

The next advance was by Pettengill who discloses, in his U.S. Patent No. 2,709,272, the use of a hollow handle-described as being made of a light metal such as magnesium-and a cast ferrule having the bristles bonded thereto by a rubber-like compound, the ferrule being secured to the end of the handle by a spring catch element. This construction does away with the use of fastening nails but it requires the use of a special spring fastener, and the ferrule and handle are both somewhat difficult to make in large quantities.

Maxwell, in his US. Patent No. 2,840,841, discloses the bonding of a transverse retaining element in the adhesive which fastens the bristles to a ferrule, the retaining element being keyed in a slot provided at the end of a wooden handle and the ferrule being fastened to the handle by nails in previously conventional manner. This also requires the use of fastening nails, the handle is This 3,231,920 Patented Feb. 1, 1966 of wood and of solid construction, and the slot for attachment of the retaining element requires special machining.

The US. Patent No. 3,023,439 of Danley also discloses a construction of paint brush having a hollow handle but in this specification the handle is described as being made of plastic. The bristles are bonded to a metal ferrule by use of a suitable binder and the ferrule is fastened to the handle by use of transverse beads or rivets.

In the British specification No. 874,950 of H. V. Hard-- man Co. Inc. there is described a construction consisting of a hollow paint brush handle made of plastic material and provided with transverse ribs at the open end of the handle, and a metal ferrule to which the bristles are bonded in conventional manner, the open end of the handle having a skirting provided with holes therethrough so that adhesive material within the ferrule-above the knot of bristles-can effect a locking engagement between the ferrule, bristles and handle. In an alternative construction the said end of the handle has a transverse plate which closes off said end, and said plate has a number of locking holes therein. These constructions avoid the use of fastening nails, but the cost of production of the hollow handle having the locking holes in the skirt, or in the transverse plate, is relatively high. Further, although there may be effected a good bond between the handle and the knot of bristles there is not the same security of aflixture of the ferrule, particularly as a metal ferrule has been proposed.

It has also been proposed to make paint brush handles of plastic material, and of hollow construction, and to secure adhesively to the front end of the handle a ferrule also of plastic material-having a suitable quantity of bristles adhesively fastened in it, the parts being assembled, without the use of nails, with the adhesive bonding the bristles, ferrule and handle together. However, the constructions as hitherto proposed are not entirely satisfactory in that some constructions are relatively complex to manufacture, others require the use of too great a quantity of adhesive and others do not provide a sufiiciently good and efficient connection between the bristles and the .handle and between the bristles and the ferrule.

An important object of this invention is to provide a paint brush of relatively simple design and construction which will be relatively economical to manufacture in large quantities by mass-production techniques, of extremely pleasant appearance and which will provide for a very good and 'eflicient connection of the bristles to the handle.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a construction of paint brush having a minimum of parts and wherein the parts may be readily made by mass pro duction methods and assembled with a relatively small amount of labour. Yet another object is to provide a construction of paint brush wherein the bristles are bonded to a ferrule in such' the ferrule by a quantity of a suitable adhesive and also being bonded to the handle member by adhesive, and the ferrule being adhesively fastened to one end of the handle member.

The handle member is formed with a plug-like part at its front end-the end to which the bristles are attachedand that part is adapted to fit in the ferrule. At the front of the plug-like part are locking memberssuch as flanges or lugswhich extend angularly in relation to the longitudinal centre line of the handle member in such manner that when the plug-like part is engaged in the ferrule, and the locking members project into an adhesive mass in the ferrule, there is effected an interlocking engagement between the locking members and that adhesive mass to fasten the ferrule to the handle member.

In the preferred construction the plug-like member comprises an upstanding wall having inwardly directed flanges at spaced intervals around its periphery. It is also preferred that the ferrule be provided with an inturned flange at its front end, providing a mouth at the front of the ferrule of smaller area than the remainder of the ferrule, and that the front inner edge of that flange be chamfered to provide a seating for a quantity of adhesive about the outer side of the knot of bristles,

In order that the invention may be fully understood and readily put into practical effect I shall now describe, with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings, a preferred construction of paint brush made according to the invention.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the paint brush;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view, from the front, of the handle member of the paint brush;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the handle member;

FIG. 4 shows a longitudinal cross-section through the ferrule of the paint brush;

FIG. 5 shows a longitudinal cross-section through the ferrule with a bristle knot positioned therein and secured in position by application of an adhesive;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal cross-section similar to FIG. 5 but showing, also, the handle member engaged in the ferrule; and

FIG. 7 is a detail view on enlarged scale of the part indicated by the circle referenced 7 in FIG. 6.

The paint brush illustrated in these drawings consists of a handle member 11, a ferrule 12, bristles 13 and adhesive securing the bristles 13 in the ferrule 12 and securing the ferrule 12 and bristles 13 to the handle member 11, such adhesive being indicated by the references 14, 15 and 16.

The handle member 11 is of hollow construction and it is made of nylon, or other suitable plastic material, and it may be made by injection moulding, blow-moulding or slush moulding operations. The handle itself, indicated by the reference 17, is of a suitable shape to provide for a comfortable grip and at the front of the handle 17 is an external flange 18 of substantially rectangular shape but having rounded corners and slightly curved ends. In the front surface of that flange is a groove or recess 19 and forwardly of the flange is a socket 9 having a base 10 and a side wall 20 of rectangular shape internally and substantially rectangular externally, the external surface of said wall having rounded corners and ends which are slightly curved-that is to say, arcuate but with a relatively lar-ge radius of curvaturesubstantially the same as the flange 18. The wall 20 extends in the same direction as the longitudinal axis of the handle member.

At each of the opposite sides of the wall is a lug 21 which projects inwardly substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the handle member, each extending approximately one-quarter way across the open mouth of the handle member 11 and each being approximately one-half the length of that open mouth. Each of the opposite ends of the wall 20 extends a small distance longitudinally beyond the two sides and at about the middle of each end is a lug 22 which projects inwardly about the same distance as the lugs 21. Each of the lugs 22 is approximately half the width of the open mouth of the handle member. These latter lugs 22 extend from recesses 23 in the front surfaces of the opposite ends of the wall 20.

The lugs 21 and 22 are conveniently formed by first forming them as longitudinal extensions of the sides and ends of the wall 20, the lugs 21 extending in the same planes as the opposite sides and the lugs 22 extending in the same planes as the opposite ends of the wall 20, and then, by applying heat and pressure to said lugs, bending them inwards to the positions as illustrated particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The ferrule 12 is made the same shape as the external surface of the wall 20 and is a neat sliding fit thereon, the length of the ferrule 12 being somewhat greater than the height of the wall 20as about A". The ferrule is also rnade of nylon, or other suitable plastic material, and the thickness of the material at the rear end is slightly less than the width of the groove 19 in the flange 18 so that the rear edge portion of the ferrule 12 can fit neatly in that groove.

At the front of the ferrule there is an inturned lip or flange 24 which is chamfered, at 25, around the front inner edge.

The handle member 11 and the ferrule 12 should be made of such materials that they may be fastened together adhesively-nylon, as previously mentioned, or polypropyleneand they may be made any suitable colours to provide an attractive appearance-preferably different colours to provide a contrast. In the manufacture of the handle member 11 the opposite sides of the wall 20 may be made so that they are very slightly concave, a small amount closer together at their middle points than at their opposite ends.

In the assembly of the parts for the manufacture of a paint brush the bristles, 13, are fitted into the ferrule 12 in known manner so that the rear ends thereof are gripped within the inturned ledge or flange 24, and then a quantity of adhesive, 14, is fed into the ferrule 12 so as to cover the inner or rear ends of the bristles and penetrate into the bristles to securely bond them in position, as shown in FIG. 5. The quantity of adhesive used is such that a small amount of the adhesive will penetrate the bristles past the inturned lip or flange and flow into the recess provided by the chamfer 25such adhesive being indicated by the reference 15. A suitable adhesive is an epoxy or polyester resin.

When that adhesive has set there is, in effect, a substantially rigid block of adhesive extending across the inside of the ferrule from end to end and from side to side, and adhering to the inner surface of the ferrule as well as to the bristles. That block of adhesive is larger than the opening at the front of the ferrule, due to the inturned ledge or flange 24. Thus, the bristles cannot be pulled forwardly out of the ferrule. Also, as the adhesive extends into the recess provided by the chamfer 25 the bristles and adhesive are locked in position relative to the ferrule so that the ferrule cannot be pulled forwardly relative to the bristles. It will be appreciated that the depth of the layer of adhesive, 14 should be such that it will not prevent full engagement of the wall 20 and lugs 21, 22 in the ferrule, and it should fully cover the ends of the bristles 13.

In an alternative method of assembly, after the adhesive 14 has set to bond the ends of the bristles 13 in the ferrule 12 a small quantity of the same adhesive, 15, is then fed into the space provided around the outside of the bristles 13, within the chamfered part 25 at the front inner edge of the lip or flange 24, so as to lock the bristles 13 in position. That is to say, the layer of adhesive 15 may consist of seepage of adhesive from the quantity placed within the ferrule, or it may be a separately-applied quantity of adhesive.

In order to secure the ferrule 12, with the bristles 13 securely locked to it, to the handle member 11 a further quantity of the adhesive, 16, is placed within the ferrule to a depth such that when the handle member is engaged with the ferrule, as is next done-as shown in FIG. 6 by inserting the wall 20 into the ferrule 12, then the inturned lugs 21, 22 will be covered by that adhesive, as shown particularly in FIG. 7. Accordingly a first continuous substantially rectangular zone of adhesive is interposed between the ends of the bristles 13 and the lugs 21, 22 and extends laterally outwardly of the bristles adjacent their bound ends and a second continuous substantially rectangular zone of adhesive interposed between the lugs and the socket base having a major portion integral with the first zone. It is apparent that the adhesive indicated by the reference 16 will bond to the adhesive layer 14 as Well as to the inner surface of the ferrule 12 and to the end of the wall 20, and in addition to the adhesive bond there is an interlocking effect due to the inturned lugs 21, 22 being locked within the set layer of adhesive. Thus, the bristles 13 and ferrule 12 are locked firmly on the front end of the handle member 11.

It is preferred that prior to the engagement of the front end of the handle member 11 in the ferrule a film of adhesive be placed in the groove 19 and/or upon the rear edge of the ferrule 12 so that when the rear edge of the ferrule 12 is engaged in that groove there will be effected an adhesive bond between the parts at that location.

Although the steps of assembly of the parts of the paint brush described above include two applications of adhesive to the interior of the ferrule 12 the assembly may be carried out by using one application of adhesive to the interior of the ferrule. To carry out such a modified assembly process there may be applied to the interior of the ferrule a sufiicient quantity of adhesive to ensure the interlocking engagement of the lugs 21 and 22 in the adhesive mass as well as the bonding of the bristles 13 in the ferrule 12.

Instead of there being a single lug 21 or 22 at about the middle of each of the sides and ends of the wall 20 there may be provided a series of spaced lugs along each of the sides and/or ends, and they may be made of such length that when they are turned inwardly their inner corners are close together.,

For longer brushesas 4" to 6" brushesthere may be provided, within the wall 20, two ribs or webs on opposite sides of the throat of the handle and extending between the sides, and these may be provided with outturned lugs at their front ends, said lugs being in the same plane as the lugs 22.

It will also be appreciated that if the invention be applied to brushes other than paint brushes the design and construction of the so-called handle member and/or of the ferrule may be modified according to the nature of the brush to which the invention is applied.

What I claim is:

1. A paint brush comprising in combination a hollow, one-piece, handle molded of relatively lightweight material having an elongated hand grip portion and terminating in an outwardly disposed substantially rectangular socket, said socket including a base integral with said grip portion and having opposed parallel endwalls and opposed parallel sidewalls extending outwardly from said base and terminating in an outer free end portion, a laterally outwardly extending flange surrounding said base of said socket, a plurality of individual laterally extending adhesive engaging surfaces spaced about the outer free end portion of said rectangular socket, bristles adhesively bound together adjacent one end in an adhesive mass extending outwardly of said handle, said adhesive mass securing said bound end of said bristles directly to said socket with 'said adhesive engaging surfaces embedded in said adhesive mass, a substantially rectangular ferrule formed with an opening therethrough having opposed parallel endwalls and opposed parallel sidewalls tightly engaged about said respective endwalls and sidewalls of said socket, said ferrule extending outwardly of said adhesive engaging surfaces and formed at its outermost end with an inturned lip bordering said opening, said adhesively bound bristles extending outwardly through said opening of said ferrule, a first continuous substantially'rectangular zone of said adhesive mass interposed between the ends of said bristles and said adhesive engaging surface and extending laterally outwardly of said bristles adjacent said bound end, a second continuous substantially rectangular zone of said adhesive mass interposed between said adhesive engaging surfaces and said socket base integral with said first zone throughout a major portion of said second zone, said lip encasing the periphery of said first zone of said adhesive mass and including a laterally inwardly facing surface engaging said bristles, a locking surface extending laterally outwardly at an angle from said inwardly facing surface and a portion of said adhesive. mass in interlocking engagement with said locking surface so as to prevent movement of said inwardly facing lip surface relative to said bristles.

2. A paint brush comprising in combination a hollow, one-piece, handle molded of relatively lightweight material having an elongated hand grip portion and terminating in an outwardly disposed substantially rectangular socket, said socket including a base integral with said grip portion and having opposed parallel endwalls and 0pposed parallel sidewalls extending outwardly from said base and terminating in an outer free end portion, a laterally outwardly extending flange surrounding said base of said socket, a plurality of individual laterally extending adhesive engaging lugs spaced about the outer free edge of said socket extending angularly inwardly therefrom so as to partially close off the outer open end of said socket,

bristles adhesively bound together adjacent one end in an adhesive mass extending outwardly of said handle, said adhesive mass securing said bound end of said bristles directly to said socket with said lugs embedded in said adhesive mass, a substantially rectangular ferrule formed with an opening therethrough having opposed parallel endwalls and opposed parallel sidewalls tightly engaged about said respective endwalls and sidewalls of said socket, said ferrule extending outwardly of said lugs and formed as its outermost end with an inturned lip bordering said opening, said adhesively bound bristles extending out- Wardly through said opening of said ferrule, a first continuous substantially rectangular zone of said adhesive mass interposed between the ends of said bristles and said lugs and extending laterally outwardly of said bristles adjacent said bound end, a second continuous substantially rectangular zone of said adhesive mass interposed between said lugs and said socket base integral with said first zone throughout a major portion of said second zone, said ferrule lip engaging said bristles and acting as a stop member for said portion of said adhesive mass extending laterally outwardly of said bristles and an outwardly angled locking surface formed on said lip, said adhesive mass contacting said locking surface and acting to lock said ferrule lip in engagement with said bristles.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,438,711 12/ 1922 Morrison 15--193 1,482,415 2/ 1924 Seaboyer et a1 300-21 2,709,272 5/1955 Pettengill 15-171 2,854,684 10/1958 Hardman et al 15-193 2,887,340 5/ 1959 Veneko 30021 3,130,434 4/1964 Daw 15- 192 3,133,299 3/1964 Danley et a1. 15-193 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,130,790 6/ 1962 Germany.

629,924 12/ 1961 Italy.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. 

1. A PAINT BRUSH COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A HOLLOW, ONE-PIECE, HANDLE MOLDED OF RELATIVELY LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIAL HAVING AN ELONGATED HAND GRIP PORTION AND TERMINATING IN AN OUTWARDLY DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR SOCKET, SAID SOCKET INCLUDING A BASE INTEGRAL WITH SAID GRIP PORTION AND HAVING OPPOSED PARALLEL ENDWALLS AND OPPOSED PARALLEL SIDEWALLS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID BASE AND TERMINATING IN AN OUTER FREE END PORTION, A LATERALLY OUTWARDLY EXTENDING FLANGE SURROUNDING SAID BASE OF SAID SOCKET, A PLURALITY OF INDIVIDUAL LATERALLY EXTENDING ADHESIVE ENGAGING SURFACES SPACED ABOUT THE OUTER FREE END PORTION OF SAID RECTANGULAR SOCKET, BRISTLES ADHESIVELY BOUND TOGETHER ADJACENT ONE END IN AN ADHESIVE MASS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY OF SAID HANDLE, SAID ADHESIVE MASS SECURING SAID BOUND END OF SAID BRISTLES DIRECTLY TO SAID SOCKET WITH SAID ADHESIVE ENGAGING SURFACES EMBEDDED IN SAID ADHESIVE MASS, A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR FERRULE FORMED WITH AN OPENING THERETHROUGH HAVING OPPOSED PARALLEL ENDWALLS AND OPPOSED PARALLE SIDEWALLS TIGHTLY ENGAGED ABOUT SAID RESPECTIVE ENDWALLS AND SIDEWALLS OF SAID SOCKET, SAID FERRULE EXTENDING OUTWARDLY OF SAID ADHESIVE ENGAGING SURFACES AND FORMED AT ITS OUTERMOST END WITH AN INTURNED LIP BORDERING SAID OPENING, SAID ADHESIVELY BOUND BRISTLES EXTENDING OUTWARDLY THROUGH SAID OPENING OF SAID FERRULE, A FIRST CONTINUOUS SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR ZONE OF SAID ADHESIVE MASS INTERPOED BETWEEN THE ENDS OF SAID BRISTLES AND SAID ADHESIVE ENGAGING SURFACE AND EXTENDING LATERALLY OUTWARDLY OF SAID BRISTLES ADJACENT SAID BOUND END, A SECOND CONTINUOUS SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR ZONE OF SAID ADHESIVE MASS INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID ADHESIVE ENGAGING SURFACES AND SAID SOCKET BASE INTEGRAL WITH SAID FIRST ZONE THROUGHOUT A MAJOR PORTION OF SAID SECOND ZONE, SAID LIP ENCASING THE PERIPHERY OF SAID FIRST ZONE OF SAID ADHESIVE MASS AND INCLUDING A LATERALLY INWARDLY FACING SURFACE ENGAGING SAID BRISTLES, A LOCKING SURFACE EXTENDING LATERALLY OUTWARDLY AT AN ANGLE FROM SAID INWARDLY FACING SURFACE AND A PROTION OF SAID ADHESIVE MASS IN INTERLOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID LOCKING SURFACE SO AS TO PREVENT MOVEMENT OF SAID INWARDLY FACING LIP SURFACE RELATIVE TO SAID BRISTLES. 